How many albums does Overkill have now?

I realized the other day that while some albums are stronger than others, every album is Overkill. It felt like AC/DC… you know when you buy an AC/DC album, you know what you’re going to get. No radical shifts in formula here, just balls-to-the-wall neck-wrecking thrash.

“Bring Me the Night” stands out because it just comes at such a break-neck pace. It’s the song that made me go back and rediscover Overkill.

“Necroshine” is so cool. It’s an Overkill song but has this different vibe to it. Another song I could listen to over and over and not get tired of it.

But for me, without question my favorite Overkill song is “I Hate”. A song whose lyrics were an anthem of my youth, and still ride with me today.

I still hate people who make you feel small. Still hate having my back against the wall. Still hate being talked down too.  But I don’t care what you say… FUCK YOU! 😉

Back in my teenage years, I loved the “Practice What You Preach” album, but as I got more familiar with Testment’s discography I find that it’s a good album but really not that great. Maybe it’s the production? Alex’s getting more progressive in his playing, I don’t know. “Practice” is still a great tune, but I guess I think they have stronger albums.

Their most recent, “Dark Roots of Earth” I think is a strong offering, with the first half of the album being so solid.

But if there’s any Testament album that gets more plays in my iTunes library, it’s “The Gathering”. And while there’s killer tracks like “D.N.R.”, “Eyes of Wrath”, “Riding the Snake”… the one track I have to crank to 11 every single time I listen to it is “Three Days in Darkness”

“Fabulous Disaster” holds a strong place in my teenage metal years. I  wore that tape out and had to buy it again.

I know it wasn’t the “hit” song, but the lyrics are just too awesome in “Verbal Razors” that it’s one of my all-time favorite Exodus songs.

I mean… “you’re a plastic motherfucker, all you do is pose” is an awesome lyric. 🙂

While there are a lot of great Pantera songs, let’s just cut through the bullshit. Because you know… you can’t be something you’re not.

Be yourself

By yourself

Stay away from me.

A lesson learned in life, known from the dawn of time.

RE

SPECT

WALK

What did you say?

Are you talking to me?

Walk on home, boy.

Small tangent.

While searching for videos for the “My Favorite” series, found this cool video of Slayer and Machine Head covering Venom’s “Witching Hour”

Rounding out “The Big 4”, SLAYER!!!!11!111!!!

One song… if I could only listen to one Slayer song for the rest of my life, which would it be?

I mean… there’s “The Antichrist” — sooooo evil (in an 80’s cartoon metal way), especially with Tom’s high-pitched wails.

Or if you want to talk Tom’s high-pitched screams, you can’t top “Angel of Death” and the opening scream.

I gravitate to “Disciple” (God Hates Us All) a lot, because like Tom said… “God doesn’t hate, but it’s a great fucking title”. Plus there’s a lot of lyrical depth here.

I love the speed, aggression, and again Tom’s over-the-top vocals at the end of “Psychopathy Red”

But I guess if there had to be one song….

WAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!

Continuing my favorites with another from “The Big 4”, Anthrax.

Anthrax was one of the first thrash bands I was introduced to. Bryan played “I’m The Man” for me and I was hooked.

And that sense of humor made “Attack of the Killer ‘B’s” a favorite album.  Their cover of “Bring the Noise” was awesome.

But getting away from the novelty stuff towards their thrash stuff, I think “Persistence of Time” was a great album. It was focused and I think they really found their groove on this album.

“In My World” is a constant favorite.

Nothing touches me… I’m a walking razorblade.

Another one that’s hard to pick a single favorite for is Megadeth.

“Rust in Peace” was a great album, but I think it also started an era of “too technical” that while a great piece of thrash metal history, I find it doesn’t move me so much. But I’m one of those guys that prefer a good blues song over a noodlely solo (yes, I’m not a huge Rush fan).

And while I like “Mechanix” more than “Four Horseman”, mostly because Dave plays it faster and more raw:

I am drawn to “Peace Sells”

It’s not so much the music, it’s the lyrics and Dave’s delivery. That “whaddayamean I don’t…” over and over.

For the next some whiles, the Sunday Metal theme will be looking at some of my favorite songs by various metal artists.

It’s hard to pick my favorite Metallica song. “St. Anger” is near the bottom of the list. 😉

I’d say “Master of Puppets” is my favorite album. The last album with Cliff, and his songwriting influence is strong. The songs were long, epic, full of time-changes and other intricate work yet still balls-out thrash.

And while the title track is the epitome of what the album is about:

I think “Damage Inc.” gets the nod as one of my favorite Metallica songs. It just snaps your neck and kicks your ass.

Fuck it all, and fucking no regrets.

When Metal-Rules.com posted their Top 30 Metal Albums 1990-2000, I thought it’d make a fun list for Sunday Metal.

#1 – Judas Priest – Painkiller

“Painkiller”